16. Panzer-Division

The 16. Panzer-Division was formed in November 1940 from the 16. Infanterie-Division. It was transferred to Romania in December where it was used as a training unit under the name Lehrstab R II and was a reserve unit during the Balkans campaign. It fought on the southern sector of the Eastern front starting June 1941 until January 1943 when it was destroyed at Stalingrad.

It was reformed in France and remained there until June when it was sent to Italy. It fought the western Allies at Salerno and Naples before being transferred to the central sector of the Eastern front. It suffered heavy losses during the fighting at Kiev and was transferred to Poland for refitting in the summer of 1944 and was sent back to the front in January 1945. It ended the war in Czechoslovakia where some parts of the division surrendered to the Red Army and other parts to the US Army.

Insignia

Personnel of this unit wore a semi-official badge on the left side of the field and service cap which took the form of a black metal shield with raised silver border upon which was centered the divisional emblem, a silver “crossed Y” rune with a horizontal bar across the vertical.